


World Within

by neverwondernever (thatgbppfrom10880MP)



Series: Within [4]
Category: The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien, The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-29
Updated: 2016-09-29
Packaged: 2018-08-18 14:40:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 466
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8165480
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatgbppfrom10880MP/pseuds/neverwondernever
Summary: A short story about Melkor during his chaining in Valinor.





	

The long silence ate away at my memory; my sole company was my mind. The chain that bound me was of simple make. It was the smallest things that trapped us. I had long acclimated to the scent of my prison. There was a musty wet smell to it. I long struggled to remember all else–the brightness of the lights, be they stars or fire, the soft grass and rough bark, the sounds of creatures all around.  
Through no choice of my own, I was bound to my prison. I struggled to remember the lands beyond and with each passing day, I could recall less and less.

So I built the world within.

In the darkness, my internal world grew. There were creatures of thick carapaces and many legs. They spoke to me of their dreams. There were good mothers, wrapping around their young, chittering at any and all who threatened her children. She brought her hatchlings food to share and I named them.

With despair I allowed the spores of a sedentary, animal-like growth to infect her. She wandered her world and twitched, unable to control her body. Far away, her hatchlings struggled to survive. The growth inside her killed her, having finished, and released further spores into the air.

I watched as a pale creature emerged from the residual waters, seeking its meal. It had a semipermeable skin and often regenerated its limbs. It found the late mother’s hatchlings and ate them. I did nothing to stop it and this inaction preyed on my mind. Why did I not intervene?

The world within continued. It flourished and changed, all life within dying. Bodies fell and beetles consumed the remains. There was no true waste, for even fecal matter held purpose.

I watched and waited, long forgoing the world beyond my own mind. It grew shape and form. It was my realm. None knew of me. Something with countless legs crawled across my leg and it had no knowledge of its creator.

I did nothing beyond observing.

Life flourished well. The links to my chain chinked as I shifted my body.

I was content in my world.

The light had other matters.

From a door that led to forgotten lands, a figure appeared. The light that followed him poisoned and tortured the new life.

He watched me as I cringed in pain. I shouted but speech I did not have. I had forgotten this. I had forgotten him.

He soon left and it took a long while for my world to recover. For my eyes to heal. I shifted yet again and the iron links that bound me here clinked. I cursed the light.

I watched as a colony of detritus eaters skittered past. One hissed in irritation.

I had no desire to leave.


End file.
